Polebridge area under evacuation warning; Lake McDonald Lodge won't reopen this year

Officials issued an evacuation warning to some residents in the area between Moose Creek Road and Whale Creek Road Friday due to threats by the 100-acres Whale Butte Fire.

Flathead County Sheriff deputies began notifying affected residents directly, and other citizens in the area were advised to avoid this area, allowing the firefighters to operate safely. Fire managers redirected super scoopers to the fire to help hand crews and heavy equipment operators slow its growth.

The North Fork Road remains open, but citizens were advised to reduce speed throughout the area as smoke and emergency vehicles are in the area.

The evacuation warning and map and future updates to this information can be found at the Flathead County Office of Emergency Services Facebook page.

An evacuation warning was also issued for all areas north of the Bowman Lake Road junction with the Inside North Fork Road, extending to Kintla Lake.

According to the Glacier National Park website, there is a chance of evacuation within the next two days due to fire activity.

Residents within the warning area were advised to have an evacuation plan in place in the event of a short notice evacuation order.

Lake McDonald Lodge will remain closed for the remainder of the 2018 season due to fire activity, according to a spokesperson from Xanterra Travel Collection, the parent company over many of the lodges located around the park.

Other lodges across the park remained open as of Friday and the red buses will continue to travel along the still open roads throughout the park, the spokesperson said.

Acreage on the Howe Ridge Fire remained at around 3,500 acres with no reported containment.

The fire remained active through Thursday night, with single tree torching and spotting producing some growth on the southwestern edge.

Additional spotting and growth were observed on the north edge of the fire on the southern slope of Mount Stanton as well as the northwest edge of the fire toward Rogers Lake.

All previously instituted evacuations and closures remained in place.

Around 80 fire personnel continued containment efforts on Friday and the Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team under John Pierson was scheduled to take over the fire as of 6 a.m. Saturday.

Fire personnel working the Howe Ridge Fire in Glacier National Park will call a community meeting Saturday at 6 p.m. in the little theater of the Columbia Falls High School.

Official planned to advise citizens on management plans for the Whale Butte, Howe Ridge, Coal Ridge and Paola Ridge fires.

The Flathead and Glacier National Park area increased fire traffic along Highway 2 and in the North Fork of the Flathead.

U.S. 2 has a reduced speed around the fire camp near the KOA at West Glacier, and smoke continued to reduce visibility.

A temporary flight restriction was placed on the fire area due to smoke and fire activity.

The 270-acre Coal Ridge Fire, also burning in the Flathead National Forest, showed minimal growth Thursday, allowing firefighters to use heavy equipment to create fuel breaks near structures to protect the Polebridge community and Home Ranch Bottoms.

The fire was expected to continue its spread along the edges and backing downslope on the north side toward Hay Creek and up toward Coal Ridge.

Crews on the 680-acre Ten Mile Fire burning 19 miles southwest of Eureka reached 91 percent containment Friday, while personnel working the nearby Sterling Complex saw some growth on the two main fires within the vicinity.

Pinkham Tower Fire reached 602 acres and the Huckleberry Fire reached 305 acres and 27 percent containment.

Officials said the fire had potential to move to the north and northeast over the weekend depending on wind and weather conditions.

Heavy equipment and fire crews totaling around 140 firefighters worked on containment lines to prevent the fires from moving in that direction.

The overall complex totaled 1,095 acres with 23 percent containment.

A slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms over the fire area today will bring cooler and slightly more humid conditions. Smoke from other fires will keep the fire shaded, calming the fire.

The remote Brownstone Fire burning in the Bob Marshall Wilderness continued its slow growth Friday, consuming a total of 1,900 acres. Additional growth was expected over the weekend due to hazardous weather conditions.

Winds topping out at around 10 mph and cloudy weather were expected over the weekend with Monday bringing a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms with possible precipitation.

The Flathead Valley held onto unhealthy for sensitive groups air conditions on Friday with the rest of the state reporting moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.